Denver Newsroom, Aug 29, 2021 / 20:45 pm
As the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorates and the U.S. withdrawal date of Tuesday, Aug. 31 approaches, these are five things you need to know about the Christian minority in Afghanistan right now.
1. Christians in Afghanistan live in the second worst country for Christians, according to the Open Doors World Watch List. Afghanistan secured the No. 2 slot behind the authoritarian regime in North Korea. Due to the practice of honor killings and apostasy laws, the situation in Afghanistan was already extremely dangerous for Christians, most of whom risked their lives to convert from Islam.
“[Conversion] is considered in the Taliban's eyes to be apostasy that must be punished with death," said the former head of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom and current director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, Nina Shea, in an interview with Christian Today.
“It is impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan,” concluded the Open Doors report. “Leaving Islam is considered shameful, and Christian converts face dire consequences if their new faith is discovered. Either they have to flee the country or they will be killed.”